Steve Lafleur

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403-216-7175 ext: 424

Steve Lafleur

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Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Steve Lafleur is an independent public policy analyst located in Toronto, a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute and a former Senior Policy Analyst at the Fraser Institute. He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University and a B.A. from Laurentian University where he studied Political Science and Economics. He was previously a Senior Policy Analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Winnipeg and is a Contributing Editor to New Geography. His past work has focused primarily on housing, transportation, local government and inter-governmental fiscal relations. His current focus is on economic competitiveness of jurisdictions in the Prairie provinces. His writing has appeared in every major national and regional Canadian newspaper and his work has been cited by many sources including the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Reason Foundation.

Recent Research by Steve Lafleur

Broken Promises: The Persistence of Elevated Personal and Corporate Income Taxes in Ontario

— Jan 5, 2023

Broken Promises: The persistence of elevated personal and corporate income taxes in Ontario is a new study that finds due to both federal and provincial tax hikes, Ontario now has the third highest top combined federal/provincial or federal/ state top income tax rate in Canada or the United States—having jumped from 46.41 per cent in 2012 to 53.53 per cent.

Ford Government Plans to Outspend Wynne Government

— Aug 4, 2022

Ford Government Plans to Outspend Wynne Government finds that, despite any rhetoric to the contrary, the current Ontario government plans to outspend its predecessor.

Learning from Ontario’s Past: How Ontario Can Avoid Another Post-Recession Debt Binge

— Mar 31, 2022

Learning from Ontario’s Past: How Ontario Can Avoid Another Post-Recession Debt Binge is a new study that focuses on how the provincial government could balance the budget by 2022/23, and what mistakes made by past governments should be avoided to ensure fiscal stability. Based on recent projections, the provincial government would need to reduce annual spending by $9.1 billion from its 2021/22 level to balance the budget in 2022/23—a 4.8 per cent decrease.